Xcode 4 has its roots in Project Builder and Interface Builder, the two development tools created for NeXTSTEP. The NeXTSTEP operating system ran on the NeXT computer, which was manufactured by NeXT, the company Steve Jobs founded when he left Apple in 1985. The hardware side of the business was not successful, and NeXTSTEP morphed into OPENSTEP, which ran on Sun’s Solaris operating system, and later on Windows. After Apple purchased NeXT in 1996, the software became Rhapsody and, later, Mac OS X. A branch of the software became the iPhone operating system which, after the introduction of iPad, became iOS.

Project Builder and Interface Builder remained the developer tools through all this time. Project Builder was the tool you used to write code, and Interface Builder was the graphically oriented tool you used to draw the interface. Project Builder was renamed Xcode in 2003; it contained significant changes to its user interface at that time.

At Apple’s 2010 Worldwide Developer Conference, Xcode 4 was given its debut. It was released as the official version in spring 2011. One of its most significant features was the integration of Project Builder and Interface Builder in a single tool.

This book is based on Xcode 4. If you are using an earlier version, it is time for you to update to the latest software because by the time this book is published, Xcode 4 will be more than a year old (depending on whether you start counting from the demonstrations or from the official release). Now that you know the history and origins of Xcode 4, there is no reason to distinguish it from its predecessors: From this point on, it is simply referred to as Xcode.

Getting to Know Xcode

Everything you do in the development of Mac and iOS apps is done in the context of Xcode. First demonstrated at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2010, it was released in several preview versions until the final release in the spring of 2011. Xcode 4 is not just a revision to the interface of Xcode 3; it is a rethinking of the way in which developers work on their apps.

This hour helps you understand this new way of working and why it is so relevant to apps written for Mac and iOS in today’s world. Not only will you find out how to use Xcode 4, but you will see why it is structured the way it is and how you can best take advantage of its new features.

As you use Xcode 4, try to use the new features and new ways of working so that you understand what the people at Apple think a productive development process can look like today. And bear in mind one important point about Apple’s developer tools: for many years, these tools have been testing and proving grounds for new ideas about interface design. What you see in Xcode 4 includes some novel approaches to interface design that you may consider using for your own apps both on Mac and iOS.

One of the most important features of Xcode is its simulator: software that lets you test iOS apps on your Mac. You’ll find out more about the simulator in Part II of this book, “Using Core Data.”